"(We) took our shirts off, threw it on (the gator's) face, and we were going to come from behind it and jump on it ... In the process of doing that, it spun around and grabbed my hand seconds before we jumped on it," Bonin said in the interview.

Bonin told KPLC it felt like someone was pulling his arm out.

"I thought I was about to lose something," he said.

Bonin advised others against doing what he did.

"Call wildlife and fisheries, call the sheriff, call somebody, stay in your vehicles don't try to play with them or move them," he said in the interview with KPLC. "Leave it to the professionals, that's what they say."